The fate of the Foundation rests on young Arcadia Darell, only 14 years old and burdened with a terrible secret. As its scientists gird for a final showdown with the Mule, the survivors of the First Foundation begin their desperate search. They too want the Second Foundation destroyed, before it destroys them.

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Publisher's Summary

Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels are one of the great masterworks of science fiction. As unsurpassed blend of nonstop action, daring ideas, and extensive world-building, they chronicle the struggle of a courageous group of men and women dedicated to preserving humanity's light in a galaxy plunged into a nightmare of ignorance and violence thirty thousand years long.

After years of struggle, the Foundation lies in ruins, destroyed by the mutant mind power of the Mule. But it is rumored that there is a Second Foundation hidden somewhere at the end of the Galaxy, established to preserve the knowledge of mankind through the long centuries of barbarism. The Mule failed to find it the first timebut now he is certain he knows where it lies.

The fate of the Foundation rests on young Arcadia Darell, only 14 years old and burdened with a terrible secret. As its scientists gird for a final showdown with the Mule, the survivors of the First Foundation begin their desperate search. They too want the Second Foundation destroyed, before it destroys them.

Listen to all of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, including (in chronological order):

This is third book of trilogy (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation). Of course, it is culmination point and Issaac Asimov is a master of suspense and unbelievable twists. I loved this book in childhood and I still love it.

Where does Second Foundation rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Isaac Asimov's "Second Foundation", for the sci fi fan i am, floats near the top of my list for all audiobooks thus far, it is intriguing, intelligent, believable, spoke with excellence by Scott Brick and exceeded expectations.

What other book might you compare Second Foundation to and why?

Second Foundation, as all of Asimov's, in this collection, almost stands alone in this genre; but, if had to compare a book of such vast fictional intelligence i could easily put this in the same shelf as "star wars" and "star trek"...i only wish they would do a current day mini-series to show off the brilliance of the author.

What does Scott Brick bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Although lacking an enormous pool to choose from, Scott Brick, at this point, is....by far...my favorite! He is astronomically brilliant in his disposition of ALL characters, he is grammatically perfect in all facets of speech, punctuations, poetic pauses and character purpose and appeal. It is difficult to imagine any other doing a novel as well. I often filter for Scott Brick read books to find new! He is excellent!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

No idea what a "tag line" is!? :)

Any additional comments?

Sci fi fans are doing a disservice to themselves if they have not read this epic classic....I highly recommend the series!

Great to re read this classic but I have to say that the background music and additional audio tracks are a great distraction. I have listened to hundreds of audio books...some good...some great in their presentation and reading. This is one of the most difficult to listen too and stay focussed on the story. Unfortunate since this is a timeless classic from Asimov.

Asimov's Foundation series, based on the ideas from the "Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire," starts with a 12,000 year-old Galactic Empire. The great Hari Selden has mathematically proven that the Empire will soon fall and a 30-millennium Dark Age will follow, but Selden's Foundation can shorten that time by a factor of 30.

In Second Foundation, the Mule has conquered the original Foundation and much of the galaxy, but the secretive Second Foundation---oriented to mental science where the first Foundation is oriented to physical sciences---lurks out there and is interfering with the Mule's plans for a new empire. The Mule attempts to track down the Second Foundation. After the Mule's death, the original Foundation needs the Second Foundation's help in getting the Selden plan back on track.

The Foundation trilogy is a bit dry, and the characters are quite one-dimensional and cartoonish. It may be more enjoyable if you think of it as a history book from the distant future rather than an adventure story. The envisioned technology was typical for the 1940's (computing your course across the galaxy with a slide-rule), but seems rather quaint now. One other complaint: Asimov got pretty wordy in places, to the detriment of the story.

I like Scott Brick as a narrator and he does a pretty good job with this.

For me this trilogy peaked in the middle with 'Foundation and Empire', but this book is still great and well worth listening to if you have listened/read the others. The conclusion of this original Foundation trilogy is satisfactory, although it is clear that the story can continue and does in the form of the Extended Foundation series which are unfortunately not available on Audible and which do not seem to have been produced by Random House.

Excellently narrated by Scott Brick.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Joachim Bjerke Jentoft

London, W8 5SR, United Kingdom

2/10/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Outdated?"

Repetitive and uninteresting. The forstå book had some novelty and was a good read, the Two latter books could have been merged and shortened. It might just be outdated...

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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